Friday, August 11, 2006

Taming The Compu-Beast

Greetings from all of us at Hank Lee's Magic Factory. This has been an IT week from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks. As you may or may not know, we are an all Mac environment. Almost all. We do have a couple of PCs that run some Pitney Bowes software that won't run on Mac. We love our Macs. Most of our machines are up to date models. But, we do have a very old MacII that is dedicated to one job, printing labels. It's because there is a piece of software that will not run on any of the newer machines, but will run on the MacII. We all know that its demise is imminent. It coughs and spits and sometimes emits an odd cloud of dust. But, it still keeps churning out labels. So, we don’t complain. However, it has recently developed a new ailment where the mere act of plugging it into the Network reduces the Network speed to somewhere between snail's pace and stopped. As soon as the MacII is unplugged from the Network, everything is great. Oh, and if you unplug everything else from theNetwork and just run the MacII, it's fine. As the head IT guy around here, I have been scratching my bald head trying to solve the problem. Every work-around that I have tried fails. I am thinking that the time has come to kiss the old feller goodbye and solve the label printing problem on a newer machine. It's hard to say goodbye to such an old friend. Know what Imean?CONCLAVER'S WEEK: I have to tell you, my memory is just not what it used to be. I think it's a little slippage in the transmission. I totally spaced out on the fact that this past week was Conclaver's Week. Duh. If you were at last year's Conclave, and you forgot to use your certificate this week, we have a pardon from the governor. You will be able to use your Conclaver's Certificate until next Friday, the 18th of August. An extra week. Just call your order in or mail your order in along with the certificate and we will take care of you. Next year, I will remind you in a more timely manner.

Now, let's take a look at all the great magic in this week's Hotlist.

All Seeing Eye: From the mind of R. Paul Wilson and the hands of Joe Porper comes a baffling new version of Mental Epic! Three thoughts. Three isolated predictions. One incredible effect. Three spectators each think of something. Something totally random. You introduce the mystical All Seeing Eye, a model of an ancient prediction device. Three times you write a prediction, roll it up and insert it into a numbered hole on the “Eye.” Each time the spectator is asked to reveal his thought after the prediction is trapped in the hole. After the third prediction is written and the thought revealed, the spectators may each remove the papers from the numbered holes and find that you were correct each and every time!The rolled up predictions are in view at all times.The holes are drilled into solid metal and they are numbered.The numbers are etched into the metal and the predictions are written and placed into the holes before each thought is revealed.The All Seeing Eye is 100% examinable!The All Seeing Eye is a real attention grabber. People are fascinated by it from the moment it is introduced. The effect is clear and easy to understand and the method is so simple, it has never been suspected. When the predictions are revealed, the reactions are incredible! The All Seeing Eye was designed to look like a mystical object, something you might find in a Masonic ritual. It can be placed anywhere in your home, with the rolled up paper in the three holes, ready to go, whenever a guest might ask, “What’s that?” It may be introduced during your show as a single effect or you can make predictions throughout your show. As a finale, reveal that you were correct each time!Thanks to Joe Porper’s genius, the All Seeing Eye works with a simple mechanism that locks to ensure it can be handled by the spectators at the end of the effect. $499.95(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8416&cat=0&page=1)

Autobend Silverware: Al Mann & Devin Knight were two of the originators of self bending spoon techniques. This is the real work on self-bending spoons developed jointly by Al Mann and Devin Knight during the mid 1980s. You get the exact method used by Devin in newspaper offices throughout the years to garner front page publicity. Show two spoons, one in each hand. The spectator is given a choice of either the stem or bowl of one of the spoons. Which ever he chooses (no force) that part of the spoon bends forward in a slow spooky manner. Now the spoon in the other hand starts to visibly bend and is dropped into the spectator's hand while still for complete examination without any switch. The second spoon then becomes rubbery and flops around like loose rubber. Suddenly the rubbery spoons breaks in half and falls into the person's hand for examination. Only two spoons used and there is no switch of any kind in the above routine. Both spoons can be immediately examined. This manuscript is full of early Mann/Knight metal bending history and contains techniques only previously revealed in a now out of print joint Mann/Knight publication. This routine and handling has been highly acclaimed by those who have read it. Almost self-working with no skill needed. Complete with special spoons and detailed photographic directions showing you all the handlings. $29.00(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8422&cat=0&page=1)

Tom Stone Caught Live On Tape DVD - Tom Stone is not only an extremely creative thinker and inventor. He is also a very entertaining and charismatic performer, who has been an underground rumor for years! Perhaps you have heard the buzz after his performances at Magic Castle, or after his lecture at FISM? In this DVD, you will learn eight of his best routines, and if you like close-up and stand-up magic with a twist, you will not only have a good time watching, but also get a lot of inspiration for your own performances. This DVD Features:A Toast for Charon: Silk, silver and a huge surpriseGold Wielder: Linking finger rings without a stoogeOcchamman Now: "The Signed Card" - paperclipped!Time Operator: Time, space and a free selectionThe Hoarders: Interlaced action with cardsReality Glitch: Sandwich in an unexpected placeMonty Walks Again: Personal valuables change placesAmbivalent Travelers: A journey into deep pocketsEmbedded in each piece is a strong knowledge of misdirection, streamlined technique and engaging dramatic plots. With a boldness that will make your hands happy, you will be able to get signed cards to appear in four different pockets with a minimum of sleights. Borrowed finger rings are linked together without any awkward moments. An isolated, paperclipped card transforms into a signed selection in the clearest version of Bro. John Hamman's "The Signed Card". In a stylish and elegant parlor piece, coins appear and fly through the air, ending with the spectacular production of a wine bottle. And a card trick comes together like a surreal and carefully constructed short story. $34.95(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8417&cat=0&page=1)

Spiral Blendo: Show a black, a red and a yellow silk one at a time. Tie the three silks together at one corner.Swirling the silks in the air, you magically changes all three of the smaller silks into one larger silk with the colors blended in an intricate pattern. The new silk is shown on both sides, and the three smaller silks have all totally disappeared!Comes complete with all silks and instructions detailing how to perform this magical metamorphosis!Large Silk Dimensions Approximately 34" x 34" (86cm x 86cm)Small Silk Dimensions Approximately 17" x 17" (43cm x 43cm)$69.00(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8420&cat=0&page=1)

Sucker Punch DVD - Thom Peterson - Magic that will knock the wind out of your audience!9 Great Sneak Attacks To Daze And Amaze!Lemonade Racket:A great stand-up piece where you produce a lemon, a full glass of lemonade, and then a bottle of hard lemonade.Biff! Bam! Pow!Pocket Lint:Pocket lint grows into your missing sock, then out of the sock falls your missing set of keys!What will turn up next? Your ex-girlfriend?A Hole:4 Aces jump out of a mixed up deck, then the deck rights itself into a new deck order.You like card stuff? We got yer card stuff right here pal!E.S.P. Your Pants:A sophisticated mental E.S.P. card effect with a juvenile name. This piece is a great way to get multiple spectators involved in the magic.Fortune 500:A complete routine with borrowed bills that wind up inside of a sealed fortune cookie. Right out of Thom's castle act.Plus 4 other knock-out routines for close-up and platform. $34.95(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8419&cat=0&page=1)

Dan Tong Finally DVD - Volume One - "If you want to learn magic that is practical for performing in the real world, Danny Tong is the magician to look to. If you want to entertain the audience as you fool them, Danny Tong will teach you to do that too.There are a lot of great magic tricks out there, but the majority of them cannot be used when performing close-up in a restaurant or at a cocktail party. Perhaps that is why so many magicians all perform the same close-up tricks. Danny Tong stands out among real world, working magicians. After viewing his DVD, you will see why Danny is held in such high esteem by his peers and why I am a fan of his magic."-Steve Dusheck

"What can I say about Dan Tong? I have known Dan for several years and I must say, Dan is one of the best kept secrets in the magic world and he shouldn’t be!"- Ray Goulet (Owner/Creator, Magic Art Studio - Mini Magic Museum)

Volume 1:Card To Wallet: A simple no palm approach to the signed "card to wallet" effect.Bill Matrix (coin assembly): This simple method not only produces the coin assembly effect, it provides two additional effects. (That of a color change and production of a large coin.) However, its main function is to get money on the table. One simple adjustment and you are reset.Sponge Balls: With 2 visible balls you will perform several effects, including the classic in the spectators hands.Ring Flight/Ring on Stick: A very strong combination of two classics that make a great closer. Bonus:Matrix (additional)Bills & Bowls: It’s the classic Benson bowl routine done with borrowed bills and a sugar bowl. Like Bill Matrix, the routine was designed to get money on the table. $34.95(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8414&cat=0&page=1)

Chain Reaction DVD - Samuel Patrick Smith - Samuel Patrick Smith's Linking Ring routine is now available on a fully searchable DVD! The Chinese Linking Rings—one of the most talked-about effects in magic. This video features live show performance, plus an easy-to-follow studio explanation of each move. If you’ve ever tried to learn the rings by reading descriptions in a book, you’ll really appreciate the clear video close-ups and slow-motion effects!You can perform this routine for kids or adults and get great reactions from any audience. Moves explained in the routine include Simple Count, Strike Link, Tumbling Ring, Figures, Separating Rings, Proving the Rings Solid, plus proven presentation tips. $15.00(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8421&cat=0&page=1)

Act Of Imagination - Enrique Enriquez & Kenton Knepper - This is the inside, practical, real work of "Kentonism" and "Telepathy In Action" taken to new heights and performed with greater ease and comfort than ever before. If you like "Kentonism" or "Telepathy In Action", this is a must have book. What is the Act of Imagination?• Do a full hypnosis type act without any hypnosis, stooges, trick props or set-up.• People may think they have become furniture, see themselves without pants. Any number of wild seemingly "hypnotic demonstrations" are performed without paid helpers or real hypnosis.• This is the full act just as Enrique Enriquez has performed it around the world, in theatres, living rooms, art museums and television. You get all the details of the act Enrique is performing to this day to gather fame and honor worldwide. It's easy. But it will take practice.• Enrique also tips for the first time his classic blindfold portrait effect with all the touches and details only he alone can tell. Draw accurate portraits of unseen people, even if you are not an artist!• Kenton tips his special duct tape blindfold designed for Enrique's act as well. Your head is down, eyes to the floor the entire time, duct tape all over your eyes and nose. No nose peek, no seeing through the blindfold either. Really. Of course there's a secret - and Kenton finally reveals it here for the first time here. Many have raved about this gem.This book will change how we do Kentonism, TIA and hypnosis on stage forever. Enrique Enriquez is a student of Kenton Knepper and has performed the world over with the material in this book. Now it can be yours. $40.00(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8423&cat=0&page=1)

Dan Tong Finally DVD - Volume Two - "Does the world need another video? Well it 'does' need a video from this man. Danny Tong is a man who has done it all. Anytime a pro like Danny Tong wants to tip some prize information, I am ready to receive it. I was so glad to hear that we are able to have some pearls of wisdom from one of my favorite entertainers. I treasure the times that I have spent with him and can’t wait to have him on my television anytime I want."- Doc Eason

"The Egg Bag routine is alone worth the price of the DVD. The other items are a great bonus."-Tom Craven

Volume 2:Malini Egg Bag: This 3 phase routine with spectator ends with the production of a glass of liquid. Joe Lefler said, "This routine has to be seen to be believed". Chop Cup: A short, fast routine with this prop that does not promote a gambling theme.Card on the Ribbon: A slight change in the presentation of this great Jack Chanin trick creates a second effect and leaves you clean.Thompson’s Aces: As an opener for a card routine, this in the hands, ace production would be hard to beat. From a shuffled deck, you will produce the four aces, one at a time, while cutting the cards. Combine this production sequence with "Christopher’s Red and Black Aces" (Daley’s Last Trick) and you will have an easy to follow routine that does not require the spectator to take a card.Ropes: A rope routine that runs the gamut from C & R rope to Professor’s Nightmare to a 3 to 1 restoration. A complete act on its own.Bonus:Jack: A minor change in this old trick adds another laugh and extends the climax. $34.95(http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8415&cat=0&page=1)

And that's all for this week. But, my goodness what a bunch of great stuff!

I hope you will find some time to spend with us online at www.magicfact.com or in person at our fabulous retail store at 112 South Street in downtown Boston. Either way, we love the company. And, don’t forget to use those Conclaver's Certificates!Hank Lee